The RSRM-76 solid rocket boosters separated at 23:19 GMT and main engine cut-off (MECO) came at 23:25 GMT. External tank ET-104 separated into a 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At apogee at 00:01 GMT on Oct 12, Discovery's OMS engines fired to raise perigee to a 158 x 322 km x 51.6 deg orbit; ET-104 re-entered over the Pacific around 00:30 GMT. At Oct 12 on 03:01 GMT the NC1 burn raised the orbit to 180 x 349 km; NC3 on Oct 12 to 311 x 375 km; and the TI burn at 14:09 GMT on Oct 13 to 375 x 381 km x 51.6 deg. Discovery's rendezvous with the International Space Station came at 15:39 GMT on Oct 13, with docking at 17:45 GMT. The spaceship docked with PMA-2, the docking port on the +Y port of the Space Station's Unity module. Hatch was open to PMA-2 at 20:30 GMT the same day.

STS-92 Cargo Manifest

Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System + 3 EMU spacesuits

Bay 5 Port: Adapter Beam with DDCU-HP control unit

Bay 5 Starboard: Adapter Beam with DDCU-HP control unit

Bay 7-8: Spacelab Pallet MD003 with PMA-3

Bay 10-12: ISS Z1 first segment of the space station truss

Bay 13 Adapter Beam with IMAX Cargo Bay Camera

Sill: Canadarm RMS 301

Total payload bay cargo: ca. 14,800 kg

The Z1 first segment of the space station truss was built by Boeing/Canoga Park and was 3.5 x 4.5 meters in size. It was attached to the +Z port on Unity. Z1 carried the control moment gyros, the S-band antenna, and the Ku-band antenna.

PMA-3, built by Boeing/Huntington Beach, was docked to the -Z port opposite Z1. PMA-3 was installed on a Spacelab pallet for launch.

On October 14 at 16:15 GMT the Z1 segment was unberthed from the payload bay and at around 18:20 GMT it was docked to the zenith port on the Unity module.

On October 15 at 14:20 GMT the ODS airlock was depressurised, beginning a spacewalk by Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao. Official NASA EVA duration (battery power to repress) was 6 hours 28 minutes.

The second spacewalk was on October 16, with Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria. The suits went to battery power at 14:15 GMT and Wisoff left the airlock at 14:21 GMT. Repressurisation began at 21:22 GMT for a duration of 7 hours 07minutes.

Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur began the third STS-92 EVA at 15:30 GMT on October 17, completing their work at 22:18 GMT for a total time of 6 hours 48 minutes.

After the spacewalk, Discovery completed the second of the three station reboosts scheduled for STS-92. They fired reaction control system jets in a series of pulses of 1.4 seconds each, over a 30-minute period, gently raising the station's orbit by about 3.1 km.

The last of four successful spacewalks began on 18 October at 16:00 GMT and ended at 22:56 GMT, lasting 6 hours and 56 minutes. Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria each jetted slowly through space above Discovery's cargo bay.

After the space walk, Discovery completed the third and final reboost of the space station.

On 19 October the astronauts worked within the ISS. They completed connections for the newly installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment and supplies for the Expedition One first resident crew of the Station. The crew also tested the four 290-kg gyroscopes in the truss, called Control Moment Gyros, which will be used to orient the ISS as it orbits the Earth. They will ultimately assume attitude control of the ISS following the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory Destiny. The tests and the transfer of supplies into the Russian Zarya Module took longer than expected. As a result, the crew's final departure from the Station's Unity module was delayed. Melroy and Wisoff took samples from surfaces in Zarya to study the module's environment. They then unclogged the solid waste disposal system in the Shuttle's toilet, which was restored to full operation after a brief interruption in service.

Discovery undocked from the ISS at 16:08 GMT on 20 October. The final separation burn was executed about 45 minutes after undocking. The crew had added 9 tonnes to the station's mass, bringing it to about 72 tonnes. The return to earth, planned for 22 October, was delayed repeatedly due to high winds at the Kennedy landing site. The landing was finally made at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 24, at 22:00 GMT.

STS-92, during its 12-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS), completed all assigned objectives to install the Zenith Z1 Truss and the third pressurized mating adapter (PMA 3) for use as a docking port for subsequent shuttle missions.

In the afternoon of flight day two, Discovery and her crew completed a successful rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station setting the stage for six days of construction and outfitting.

On flight day three, Japanese Astronaut, Koichi Wakata, deftly maneuvered Discovery's robotic arm to lift the Zenith Z1 Truss from the shuttle's payload bay and berthed it to a port on the Unity connecting module. Inside Unity, Pilot Pam Melroy and crewmate Jeff Wisoff opened the hatch where the new truss was attached and installed grounding connections between the framework and the station.

Discovery's five mission specialists, Leroy Chiao, Bill McArthur, Jeff Wisoff, Mike Lopez-Alegria and Koichi Wakata, performed a total of four extravehicular activities (EVA) during the STS-92 mission. They included the following assignments:

1. EVA #1: 6-hours, 28-minutes -- connection of electrical umbilicals to provide power to heaters and conduits located on the Z1 Truss; relocation and deployment of two communication antenna assemblies; and installation of a toolbox for use during on-orbit construction.

2. EVA #2: 7-hours, 7-minutes -- attachment of the PMA 3 to the ISS and preparation of the Z1 Truss for future installation of the solar arrays that will be delivered aboard STS-97 in late November.

3. EVA #3: 6-hours, 48-minutes -- installation of two DC-to-DC converter units atop the Z1 Truss for conversion of electricity generated by the solar arrays to the proper voltage.

4. EVA #4: 6-hours, 56 minutes -- testing of the manual berthing mechanism; deployment of a tray that will be used to provide power to the U.S. Lab; and removal of a grapple fixture from the Z1 Truss. Two small rescue backpacks that could enable a drifting astronaut to regain the safety of the spacecraft were also tested.

On flight day nine, the crew of Discovery shifted their attention to the interior of the ISS as they completed connections for the newly installed Z1 Truss external framework and began transferring equipment and supplies for the first resident crew of the ISS who arrived in November. They also successfully completed testing of the four control moment gyroscopes that will be used to orient the ISS as it orbits Earth.

STS-92 was a space station assembly flight to bring the Z-1 Truss (mounted on a Spacelab pallet), Control Moment Gyros, Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) and two DDCU (Heat pipes) to the International Space Station.

ITS Z1 was an early exterior framework to allow first U.S. solar arrays on flight 4A to be temporarily installed on Unity for early power. The Ku-band communication system supported early science capability and U.S. television on 6A. The CMGs (Control Moment Gyros) weighed about 600 lbs and were to provide non-propulsive (electrically powered) attitude control when activated on 5A, and PMA-3 provided a shuttle docking port for solar array installation on 4A, and Lab installation on 5A.

The mission included 7 docked days to the ISS, 4 EVA's and 2 ingress opportunities.

Over the course of four scheduled spacewalks, two teams of space walkers and an experienced robot arm operator collaborated to install the Z1 (Z for zenith port) truss structure on top of the U.S. Unity connecting node and to deliver the third Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA 3) to the ISS for the future berthing of new station components and to accommodate shuttle dockings.

The Z1 truss was the first permanent lattice-work structure for the ISS, very much like a girder, setting the stage for the future addition of the station's major trusses or backbones. The Z1 fixture would also serve as the platform on which the huge U.S. solar arrays were to be mounted on the next shuttle assembly flight, STS-97.

The Z1 contains four large gyroscopic devices, called Control Moment Gyros (CMGs), which will be used to maneuver the ISS into the proper orientation on orbit once they are activated following the installation of the U.S. laboratory.

ISS Finally completed in 2010 after a torturous 25-year development and production process, the International Space Station was originally conceived as the staging post for manned exploration of the solar systrem. Instead, it was seemed to be the death knell of manned spaceflight. More...

Associated Launch Sites

Cape Canaveral America's largest launch center, used for all manned launches. Today only six of the 40 launch complexes built here remain in use. Located at or near Cape Canaveral are the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, used by NASA for Saturn V and Space Shuttle launches; Patrick AFB on Cape Canaveral itself, operated the US Department of Defense and handling most other launches; the commercial Spaceport Florida; the air-launched launch vehicle and missile Drop Zone off Mayport, Florida, located at 29.00 N 79.00 W, and an offshore submarine-launched ballistic missile launch area. All of these take advantage of the extensive down-range tracking facilities that once extended from the Cape, through the Caribbean, South Atlantic, and to South Africa and the Indian Ocean. More...

The RSRM-76 solid rocket boosters separated at 23:19 GMT and main engine cut-off (MECO) came at 23:25 GMT. External tank ET-104 separated into a 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At apogee at 00:01 GMT on Oct 12, Discovery's OMS engines fired to raise perigee to a 158 x 322 km x 51.6 deg orbit; ET-104 re-entered over the Pacific around 00:30 GMT. At Oct 12 on 03:01 GMT the NC1 burn raised the orbit to 180 x 349 km; NC3 on Oct 12 to 311 x 375 km; and the TI burn at 14:09 GMT on Oct 13 to 375 x 381 km x 51.6 deg. Discovery's rendezvous with the International Space Station came at 15:39 GMT on Oct 13, with docking at 17:45 GMT. The spaceship docked with PMA-2, the docking port on the +Y port of the Space Station's Unity module. Hatch was open to PMA-2 at 20:30 GMT the same day.

STS-92 Cargo Manifest

Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System + 3 EMU spacesuits

Bay 5 Port: Adapter Beam with DDCU-HP control unit

Bay 5 Starboard: Adapter Beam with DDCU-HP control unit

Bay 7-8: Spacelab Pallet MD003 with PMA-3

Bay 10-12: ISS Z1 first segment of the space station truss

Bay 13 Adapter Beam with IMAX Cargo Bay Camera

Sill: Canadarm RMS 301

Total payload bay cargo: ca. 14,800 kg

The Z1 first segment of the space station truss was built by Boeing/Canoga Park and was 3.5 x 4.5 meters in size. It was attached to the +Z port on Unity. Z1 carried the control moment gyros, the S-band antenna, and the Ku-band antenna.

PMA-3, built by Boeing/Huntington Beach, was docked to the -Z port opposite Z1. PMA-3 was installed on a Spacelab pallet for launch.

On October 14 at 16:15 GMT the Z1 segment was unberthed from the payload bay and at around 18:20 GMT it was docked to the zenith port on the Unity module.

On October 15 at 14:20 GMT the ODS airlock was depressurised, beginning a spacewalk by Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao. Official NASA EVA duration (battery power to repress) was 6 hours 28 minutes.

The second spacewalk was on October 16, with Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria. The suits went to battery power at 14:15 GMT and Wisoff left the airlock at 14:21 GMT. Repressurisation began at 21:22 GMT for a duration of 7 hours 07minutes.

Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur began the third STS-92 EVA at 15:30 GMT on October 17, completing their work at 22:18 GMT for a total time of 6 hours 48 minutes.

After the spacewalk, Discovery completed the second of the three station reboosts scheduled for STS-92. They fired reaction control system jets in a series of pulses of 1.4 seconds each, over a 30-minute period, gently raising the station's orbit by about 3.1 km.

The last of four successful spacewalks began on 18 October at 16:00 GMT and ended at 22:56 GMT, lasting 6 hours and 56 minutes. Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria each jetted slowly through space above Discovery's cargo bay.

After the space walk, Discovery completed the third and final reboost of the space station.

On 19 October the astronauts worked within the ISS. They completed connections for the newly installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment and supplies for the Expedition One first resident crew of the Station. The crew also tested the four 290-kg gyroscopes in the truss, called Control Moment Gyros, which will be used to orient the ISS as it orbits the Earth. They will ultimately assume attitude control of the ISS following the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory Destiny. The tests and the transfer of supplies into the Russian Zarya Module took longer than expected. As a result, the crew's final departure from the Station's Unity module was delayed. Melroy and Wisoff took samples from surfaces in Zarya to study the module's environment. They then unclogged the solid waste disposal system in the Shuttle's toilet, which was restored to full operation after a brief interruption in service.

Discovery undocked from the ISS at 16:08 GMT on 20 October. The final separation burn was executed about 45 minutes after undocking. The crew had added 9 tonnes to the station's mass, bringing it to about 72 tonnes. The return to earth, planned for 22 October, was delayed repeatedly due to high winds at the Kennedy landing site. The landing was finally made at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 24, at 22:00 GMT.

2000 October 12 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #03 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Melroy; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. The seven crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery spent their first full day in orbit today checking equipment in preparation for the major events to come: docking with the International Space Station on Friday and, in following days, attaching an exterior framework and additional Shuttle docking port to the orbiting outpost. Additional Details: here....

STS-92 Mission Status Report #04 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Melroy; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Summary: Discovery's astronauts were awakened this morning in preparation for their rendezvous and docking to the International Space Station after an extra hour of sleep to the sounds of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", by Cyndi Lauper.. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 14 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #07 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Melroy; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. The crew of Discovery added nine tons of critical equipment to the International Space Station today, attaching a framework that holds motion control gyroscopes and communications equipment and that will serve as a support for a giant set of solar arrays to be launched on the next Space Shuttle flight. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 14 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #06 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Melroy; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Discovery's crew is set to install the first of two major components that it carried to the Space Station today - a unique piece of hardware called the Z1 truss. The truss is an exterior framework that houses gyroscopes and communications equipment and later will serve as a mounting platform for large solar arrays that will provide power to the International Space Station. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 15 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #09 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. A key structural element for the International Space Station is now electrically connected to the rest of the station and important communications equipment set up after today's successful space walk by astronauts Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur. "The crew ... worked absolutely perfectly together, " said lead flight director Chuck Shaw in an evening press conference afterward. "It's a major achievement for this complicated an EVA to go this well." Additional Details: here....

EVA STS-92-3 - .
Crew: McArthur; Chiao. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.28 days. Nation: USA. Related Persons: McArthur; Chiao. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned space station. Flight: STS-92. Spacecraft: International Space Station. The astronauts installed two 58 kg DDCU DC-to-DC converter units atop the International Space Station's Z1 Truss. The DDCUs, will convert electricity generated by the solar arrays to be attached during the next shuttle mission. The spacewalkers also completed power cable connections on both the Z1 truss and newly installed docking port, PMA-3. They connected and reconfigured cables to route power from Pressurised Mating Adapter-2 to PMA-3 for the arrival of Endeavour and the STS-97 crew next month. They also attached a second tool storage box on the Z1 truss, providing a place to hold the tools and spacewalking aids for future assembly flights. McArthur stocked the boxes with tools and hardware that had been attached to the Unity module. STS-96 Astronauts Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry had left the tools on the outside of Unity during a May 1999 spacewalk.

2000 October 18 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #14 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; Melroy; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Mission Specialists Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria will team up once again today to conduct the final of four consecutive space walks designed to set the stage for the arrival of the first resident crew next month and the future expansion of the International Space Station. Additional Details: here....

EVA STS-92-4 - .
Crew: Wisoff; Lopez-Alegria. EVA Type: Extra-Vehicular Activity. EVA Duration: 0.29 days. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Wisoff; Lopez-Alegria. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned space station. Flight: STS-92. Spacecraft: International Space Station. Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria each jetted slowly through space above Discovery's cargo bay, demonstrating the small rescue nitrogen powered SAFER backpack (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue). This would be used in the future to help a drifting astronaut regain the safety of the spacecraft. Each astronaut performed one 15 meter flight with the SAFER while attached to the shuttle with a long tether. Lopez-Alegria and Wisoff, with Koichi Wakata operating the arm, also completed a series of wrap-up tasks during the EVA. They removed a grapple fixture from the Z1 truss, opened and closed a latch assembly that will hold the solar array truss when it arrives, deployed a tray that will be used to provide power to the U.S. Laboratory Destiny, and tested the manual berthing mechanism latches that will support Destiny. Wisoff opened and closed the latches on the capture assembly for the P6 solar arrays using a pistol grip tool. With it he made more than 125 turns to open the latches, then closed and reopened them. He left the capture latch, called 'the claw,' ready to receive the solar arrays, to be installed by the STS-97 crew. An exercise to test techniques for returning an incapacitated astronaut to the air lock was cancelled because of time constraints.

2000 October 19 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #17 - .
Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. The action shifted back inside the International Space Station on Thursday, as Discovery astronauts completed connections for the newly installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment and supplies for the first resident crew of the Station, the Expedition One crew, scheduled to arrive early next month. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 19 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #18 - .
Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Summary: STS-92 Commander Brian Duffy and his crew were awakened at 5:18 a.m. CDT and will shortly move into final preparations for their undocking from the International Space Station later this morning.. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 19 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #16 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; McArthur; Melroy; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Following four consecutive days of on-orbit construction outside the International Space Station, Discovery's astronauts today will work inside the Unity and Zarya modules, completing some final connections for the new Z1 Truss and transferring equipment for use by the first resident crew, slated to arrive early next month. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 20 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #19 - .
Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Discovery astronauts undocked from the International Space Station Friday after a successful 6-day, 21-hour and 23-minute visit that saw addition of two major elements to the station and four consecutive days of spacewalks to complete those elements' linkup to the orbiting laboratory. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 20 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #20 - .
Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Following their departure from the International Space Station yesterday morning, Discovery’s seven astronauts will now spend a day stowing equipment and checking the Space Shuttle systems that support re-entry and landing in preparation for a return to Kennedy Space Center on Sunday afternoon. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 21 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #21 - .
Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Discovery's seven astronauts tested reaction control system thrusters that will properly orient the spacecraft as it begins its descent toward a landing scheduled for 1:14 p.m. CDT Sunday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They also tested flight surface controls that will be used to fly the orbiter like an airplane once it enters the atmosphere. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 22 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #24 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Melroy; Ross; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Discovery's astronauts prepared for a Monday landing after high crosswinds at Kennedy Space Center caused a delay of at least one day in their return to Earth and the end of their successful mission to expand the International Space Station and ready it for its first crew. Additional Details: here....

STS-92 Mission Status Report #25 - .
Nation: USA. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. After an additional day in space, Space Shuttle Discovery and the seven-member STS-92 crew are scheduled to return to Earth later today, weather conditions permitting. Landing opportunities exist at both the prime landing site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the alternate landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 23 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #26 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Rominger. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Discovery's astronauts will remain in space another day after rains near Edwards Air Force Base prevented landing on either of two opportunities at the California site. Discovery had two landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center, but high winds there made landing weather unacceptable. Additional Details: here....

2000 October 24 - .

STS-92 Mission Status Report #28 - .
Nation: USA. Related Persons: Chiao; Duffy; Lopez-Alegria; McArthur; Melroy; Ross; Wakata; Wisoff. Program: ISS. Flight: STS-92. Discovery glided to a textbook landing under sunny skies at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, completing a successful mission to the International Space Station. The crew spent more than two extra days in space because of unfavorable weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and at Edwards. Additional Details: here....